Here, There and Everywhere
by Carolina Nadeau
Summary: Fifty sentences – fifty little glimpses of moments in Harold and Marian's courtship (and fifty more for their marriage). Inspired by a fanfic challenge.
1. Changing My Life With a Wave of Her Hand

_Author's Note: I was inspired to do this when I read an excellent Little Shop of Horrors fic, "Skid Row Romance", which used this format and led me to seek out the Livejournal community "1sentence", where I found the prompts. I don't post fanfiction on Livejournal so this fanfic does not claim to be directly affiliated with that challenge in any way. (And a shout-out to Morfiwien Greenleaf as well, who has already posted a similarly-formatted story a while back!)_

_The time period of these sentences spans the length of Harold and Marian's (pre-engagement) courtship, and I used the prompt set "Epsilon". If I get inspired I might write additional chapters using different prompt sets, that would cover a couple different times in their marriage. And the title is after the Beatles song, which is one of my favorite romantic songs of all time, and the lyrics of which I think fit Harold and Marian pretty well. :) _

_I've been crazy busy lately now that I'm back in school and currently rehearsing two plays (including playing Audrey in the aforementioned Little Shop of Horrors, squeeee!) and I have been working on fanfic here and there but not making much progress, so it was fun to find something relatively quick to do and not have to worry about plot! _

xxx

**1. Motion**

Harold felt like he had lived his whole life in constant motion, whether it was moving from one town to the next or simply from one end of the music emporium to the other – but he could stay happily in Marian's company for hours on end without ever desiring to be anywhere else.

**2. Cool**

Her blouse was a little thin for the fall weather, and she shivered, drawing her arms closer to her chest – and then laughed in amused appreciation when she felt Harold drape his suit coat around her shoulders from behind.

**3. Young**

No matter what her marital status, he couldn't understand how anybody could have ever thought Marian Paroo an "old maid", not when she was clearly so young and vibrant and beautiful – were they deep in denial or simply blind?

**4. Last**

When the last patron of the day had finally left Madison Public Library, Marian and Harold inevitably ended up stealing a few sweet, furtive kisses among the stacks, and, though she'd never admit it, the librarian looked forward to these moments all day long.

**5. Wrong**

The only thing that kept Harold from pulling his darling flush against him in one of their more heated moments and running his hands eagerly over every inch of her beautiful body was the knowledge that it would be wrong to do such a thing – and no matter how frustrating it felt, he was determined that their courtship would be done perfectly right.

**6. Gentle**

There was no doubt that Harold Hill was a boisterous and energetic man, but when he looked at Marian and held her close, he was so wonderfully gentle that it almost brought tears to her eyes.

**7. One**

A few months ago, Harold had thought the world full of a near-infinite amount of beautiful, fascinating women; now, he saw only one.

**8. Thousand**

Marian had to laugh privately when her little brother gravely informed her that he _would _be brave enough to try his hand at a cornet solo, because Harold had taught him that the coward dies a thousand deaths, but the brave man, only five hundred.

**9. King**

For all of his skill at crafting elaborate schemes, Harold could never much get the hang of the meticulous tactics of chess, and when Winthrop wrinkled his nose in suspicion that his brother figure had let him win, the music professor could tell him in complete honesty that he had _not_.

**10. Learn**

She'd always assumed that kissing was a sort of brief and simple thing – certainly she'd never imagined the involvement of _tongues_, or that the whole thing could end up going on long enough that she felt lightheaded and lost track of time – but, though it was all so unexpected, she was immensely enjoying learning this sort of knowledge from Harold.

**11. Blur**

Her days used to pass by in a blur, none more remarkable than any others, never anything to look forward to or hope for; now, every day seemed like a treasure, and she felt glad to get up in the morning.

**12. Wait**

Often, as he waited for her outside her house, he was reminded of that fateful July night when he'd stood alone in her front yard and realized that he would give _anything_ for even the slightest chance that he could be with her – and then when she came out and he was reminded that his once-hopeless wish had actually come true, it was all he could do not to sweep her up into his arms right then and there.

**13. Change**

It was a testament to how much things had changed in River City that Mrs. Shinn now made weekly visits to the library not to denounce her daughter's reading material, but to seek literary recommendations from Marian for _herself_!

**14. Command**

All he'd ever had to do to command the attention of a roomful of people was to stand up and speak, and they'd hang upon his every word – and this con man's trick was still a useful skill when it came to getting his young band members down to brass tacks.

**15. Hold**

Their opportunities to cozy up together were relatively rare, but he always made a point of finding some excuse to touch her, letting his fingers rest just beside hers or holding her hand under the table when they were in more casual company.

**16. Need**

Harold had been careful all through his life to never depend on anybody but himself – but after he'd endured a lonely week's business trip in Des Moines where the only contact with his little librarian came in the form of a single letter, it was starkly obvious that he needed Marian in his life as dearly as he needed water or air.

**17. Vision**

Her glasses helped her to read much more comfortably, but she hated the way that they made her look – at least until the time when he gently backed her against a bookshelf and covered her face in kisses and declared her glasses the most deliciously intriguing mark of a librarian.

**18. Attention**

Any flash of blonde hair out of the corner of his eye tended to catch his attention, his heart leaping a little at the thought that he might have a chance to see _her_ – and then he always felt slightly embarrassed for his enthusiasm when it turned out to be somebody else after all.

**19. Soul**

It's not that she could simply forget the years and years that he'd spent swindling and deceiving others, but the reason that she could forgive him is that underneath it all, he had always had a remarkably good and caring soul.

**20. Picture**

Harold didn't think any photographs of him had ever even existed prior to the snapshot of he and Marian arm in arm on the night of the Fireman's Ball, but it seemed appropriate that the first incontrovertible record of his existence on and place in this Earth should include the woman who had given him a purpose there at last.

**21. Fool**

The man he once was would have thought him a fool for settling down to give his entire life to one town and one woman, to never again seduce an intriguing stranger, to profit by honest work instead of easy thrills, to concern himself with home repairs and paying bills and teaching kids – but the new and improved Harold called his old self a damn fool right back for ever having thought that way.

**22. Mad**

He wouldn't go so far as to say that he _liked_ seeing her angry – besides being more than a little condescending, such a sentiment would imply that he took delight in her displeasure, which was not true in the least – but God, imagining the sheer heat of her fury directed in certain _other _ways was... to say the least, it wasn't the sort of thing he could think about in public.

**23. Child**

She thought of him as very, well, _manly_, with his booming deep voice and muscular frame and brazen confidence – but then there were those charming moments when she found him joining Winthrop in one of the child's elaborate, imaginary backyard adventures, and it amused her just how boyish her man could be.

**24. Now**

It was just supposed to be a little stroll for some fresh air during their lunch hour, but somehow, Harold had managed to lead them to the footbridge; "_Now_?" she asked with breathless incredulity as he drew her so close that their lips were nearly touching, before he leaned down and affirmed her question without using a single word.

**25. Shadow**

She used to watch her shadow walk beside her every night when she walked home; now, there was always another shadow walking alongside that one, and she was far too busy enjoying the company of its owner to stare at the ground.

**26. Goodbye **

It was always a moment of great disappointment when they had to part each evening, and, though it made her tremble a little to consider the full implications of what she was thinking, she couldn't help but wish that he could hold her in his arms all night as they slept.

**27. Hide**

When he got the chance, he enjoyed hiding little things around her desk – a daisy among her pencils, a ribbon tied onto her stamp – knowing that she would find them throughout the day and think of him and smile.

**28. Fortune**

_Any_ man who had Marian Paroo's love would have been the luckiest man in all the world, thought Harold, but, considering that he rightly deserved to be living his life in prison instead of with a woman who made him happier than he could describe, he figured that his good fortune far exceeded what he had ever thought possible.

**29. Safe**

He wasn't accustomed to feeling safe, and he'd always accepted that freedom must be tinged with a certain degree of danger – yet having that weight off his shoulders, the constant weight of maintaining his façade and watching his back and dodging the law, was actually what made him feel freer than he had in many years.

**30. Ghost**

The first night that he slept in his new house, he was kept awake by strange and ominous sounds from the attic, and he crept up there to investigate, fearing not a ghost but an overlooked infestation of vermin – thankfully, he quickly traced the source of the problem to a drafty window, which would be yet _another_ project for him to fix up, but at least nothing that would make this a house where he'd be ashamed to bring a wife.

**31. Book**

It should have been easy to find the perfect gift for a librarian, knowing how much she adored books – but if anything, it was even harder for that reason, and Harold had to employ all of his sneaky scheming skills to surreptitiously assess which books she already owned, what she liked and what she wanted.

**32. Eye**

He knew that it was ridiculous, but somehow, no matter where Mrs. Paroo was in the house, he imagined that he could feel her watchful eyes on him whenever he moved in a little too close to Marian – though he didn't let it stop him from trying.

**33. Never**

Marian was amazed at how she'd fancied herself "in love" so many times and yet never even come close to imagining how the real thing would feel – not some insubstantial infatuation, but a devotion to another person that was so total and complete, a shared path of discovery that was both exhilarating and intimidating, but that was worth all of the uncertainties and hard work because _his_ happiness was now hers as well.

**34. Sing**

She had a voice that would make angels fall silent, yet she was too modest to ever let anybody hear except for him and her family; he wondered if he could ever convince her to sing at one of the town events, for he felt that a talent like that ought to be shared.

**35. Sudden**

Their romance had been so sudden that he was determined to take their courtship slowly, but it was strange going through the requisite getting-to-know-you stages with somebody that he already loved so deeply and could not live without – he was secretly terrified that she might learn something about him that would make her not love him after all, but to his amazement she continued to accept and to love everything that he was, even as he revealed more and more of his past to her.

**36. Stop**

Sometimes when they canoodled, Harold would have to pull away abruptly and put a stop to things, clearly fighting the urge to lose control – and though Marian could not imagine exactly how he knew that they were going too far, or precisely where the line was that they could not cross, she was glad that she could trust him to keep them from it, even as some instinctual part of herself despised those stops with all of her might.

**37. Time**

Harold never used to think about the future more than a few weeks ahead, measuring time by how long it'd take him to fleece any particular town, but now his future stretched clear out ahead of him, full of the kind of big, exciting things that he never would have had the time for before.

**38. Wash**

It was not one of Marian's prouder moments when, while helping her mother hang out the laundry on a breezy autumn day, a gust of wind snatched her nightgown from her fingers – and it was both fortunate and _severely _embarrassing that Harold walked into the yard at that precise moment to catch it before it hit the ground, sending the librarian into a dash to take it back from him that was even faster than the wind.

**39. Torn**

He treasured that piece of paper torn from the Indiana State Educational Journal, keeping it pressed between the pages of a Bible that he hadn't read but had carried with him all his life as a reminder of his mother – his two prized possessions from the two women who had made him the man he was today by loving him.

**40. History**

Once school was back in session, the history books, practically untouched over the summer, always became a precious commodity, and the sudden rush for them could make her job simply exhausting; those were the nights when she tended to doze off in Harold's arms as they talked together on her porch swing, and he would stroke her hair and brush soft kisses against her forehead and make her feel utterly at ease.

**41. Power**

Harold could grin and smolder and trail his lips along her neck until she nearly melted, but all it took was one deep kiss initiated by her, one little sweep of her hands along his chest, and suddenly _he_ was the one gasping and staring back in amazement – and she was discovering that she enjoyed having this power over him every bit as much as she enjoyed surrendering herself to his kisses.

**42. Bother**

She walked in on him poring intently over his scores for the first concert, and quickly retreated from the room, embarrassed to have bothered him – but then he surprised her by enthusiastically calling her back in, welcoming the opportunity for her help with the more technical aspects of the music.

**43. God**

One of the most difficult changes Harold had to make in his life was to stop what Marian would call "taking the Lord's name in vain" – he tried his best, but God, what other word was he supposed to use for emphasis?

**44. Wall**

Marian felt as though nowadays she was always discovering new things about life in River City, the people there, the world around her; it was as though she'd lived her life there behind an impenetrable wall until recently, when Harold had helped her to tear it down.

**45. Naked**

Harold had bared his naked body to scores of women without a second thought, but he had never allowed anyone to see into the very depths of his heart and soul except for Marian – and somehow he knew that this would make it so much better than anything he'd ever known when they could at last be together in body as well.

**46. Drive**

The amount of work that he'd had to do in a few short months was tremendous – in addition to actually running band rehearsals, he'd been spending hours upon hours renovating and furnishing first the music emporium, then his new house – but he'd never felt a more powerful motivation in his life than that to build a life with Marian, and he almost relished the strain if it meant that he was moving closer toward reaching that goal.

**47. Harm**

None of the leering men who she was once afraid would harm her ever approached her anymore, and while Marian knew it was in part because she was now very much attached, she rather hoped that it was also because, like the other River City-ziens, they had finally come to recognize her as a person to be respected rather than an object for their personal amusement.

**48. Precious**

He knew what was in the box, but he still gasped a little when he opened it and saw the diamond ring he'd ordered – this was it, the tangible symbol of his decision to be with Marian forever and ever, and he couldn't have been more elated at that prospect.

**49. Hunger**

Harold didn't consider himself a _terrible_ cook, but after he'd moved into his own house and been required to cook for himself, he was even more grateful for the frequent evenings spent at the Paroo house, where he knew he'd never go hungry.

**50. Believe**

It still shocked him a little bit, that Marian really and truly believed that he was a good man, in spite of all he'd done – and he was most shocked of all on the day he realized that she'd made him believe it himself.


	2. How Good It Can Be

_The second installment! Prompt set this time is "Gamma", and the time period is the honeymoon and first few months of Harold and Marian's marriage, December 1912 to February 1913. A few of these snippets actually seem to me like they might be fun to expand into full vignettes someday! And I'm still open to doing one more of these chapters, which would probably take place after their children are all born, but I just need to choose the right prompt set for it.  
_

xxx

**1. Ring**

Harold wore his wedding ring like a badge of honor, and it made him smile to look at it throughout the day and remind himself that Marian was _his_ and he was hers at last, and that something had gone wonderfully right in the universe to allow him to wind up this way.

**2. Hero**

All the children of the town saw Harold as some sort of hero, and they would probably never know just how much Marian had done – and was still doing – to make him the bandleader that he now was, but she noticed in amusement that they treated her with some degree of awe simply by association with him, especially now that she shared his name.

**3. Memory**

She'd taken a little spray of baby's breath from her wedding bouquet to press between the pages of her Bible, and it moved her to tears when he requested if he could do the same and showed her where he wanted to press his – right in with the torn journal page that she'd never even suspected that he still had.

**4. Box**

In the first few days after returning from their honeymoon, she had insisted on spending some time unpacking her boxes, because, though it was hardly an enjoyable or romantic task, she knew that she simply wouldn't feel like this house was her own until she'd done it.

**5. Run**

She wasn't one to ever abandon her post at the library for anything less than the most essential of reasons, so Marian had soldiered on as usual upon realizing that she'd forgotten her spectacles at home; but Harold, who discovered at lunchtime that his dear wife was straining her eyes unnecessarily, would not stand for it, and he practically ran to their house and back to deliver the glasses, a gesture that so touched her heart that she nearly kissed him right at her desk.

**6. Hurricane**

Harold was chock full of stories, and thankfully, not all of them were scandalous – as they snuggled safely in their bed while the howling winds of a blizzard raged outside, he'd regaled his wife with the story of a fearsome hurricane he'd weathered on the East Coast in his youth, and the current storm ceased to seem threatening at all in comparison.

**7. Wings**

Maybe it was a bit silly of her to still be so utterly, meltingly besotted with a man who had been in her near-constant company for more than half a year and who was now her husband, but that didn't stop Marian from blushing pleasantly anytime he gave her a grin or a wink from across a room, her heart racing and her stomach fluttering like it contained a hundred little butterflies flapping their wings.

**8. Cold**

All in all, they felt grateful for the cold winter weather, as it was just the right sort of weather for sleeping cozily entwined in each other's arms – something that they certainly didn't want to refrain from doing now that it was finally permitted!

**9. Red**

She'd decided to take a little initiative on the night of Valentine's Day and come downstairs in a clinging scarlet nightdress that was easily the most scandalous garment she could ever imagine wearing, and had even dared to rouge her lips far beyond what a respectable lady should ever consider doing – true to form, she got precisely the reaction that she'd been looking for from Harold, and it was a near-miracle that the dress even survived that decadent night without being ripped in two.

**10. Drink**

When Harold had taken her out to a fancy restaurant on their honeymoon, he'd ordered a single glass of wine with his dinner – and though Marian hadn't the faintest desire to try any sort of alcoholic spirit, she had to admit that she'd greatly enjoyed the intriguing taste that the wine had given to his kisses that night.

**11. Midnight**

It wasn't terribly responsible of them to stay up past midnight making love, knowing that they had to work in the morning, but at the very least, they always went to work exceedingly happy these days, if not a little drowsier than before.

**12. Temptation**

"Do I tempt you?" she asked with feigned innocence when he returned from the washroom to see her reclining provocatively on the bed, widening her eyes and biting her lower lip as she teased him because she knew it would drive him wild – so wild, in fact, that he could find no better way to respond than to climb right onto the bed and crush his lips to hers in a hungry kiss, hands grasping desperately at her hips as he covered her body with his own.

**13. View**

There was a certain thrill for Harold in the view of tall buildings and busy streets from their hotel room in Des Moines, and he couldn't deny that it was exciting to be back in a big city – yet somehow he found himself longing for wide open fields, sky and trees and quiet, already a little homesick for the place that he hadn't even called home for very long at all.

**14. Music**

It made him feel remarkably relaxed just to go about his business and hear the sounds of the piano coming from the music room, though sometimes he couldn't resist slipping quietly into the room to watch her play, as it never failed to amaze him how his wife could make such beautiful music with the deceptively simple-looking motions of her hands across the otherwise impassive keys.

**15. Silk**

Since the moment he'd first laid eyes on Marian, he'd wanted to run his hands through that glorious golden hair that she kept mostly bound up according to society's strictures – and now he reveled in doing that and more every day and every night, her long tresses and naked skin feeling luscious as silk against his hands and her soft little mewls of pleasure caressing his ears just as sweetly.

**16. Cover**

Harold had always liked a good story, but it had been years since he'd had the time to read a book cover to cover... yet now reading had become one of his regular habits, and their second floor study – which he'd crafted especially for her – was turning out to be quite a draw for him as well now that she'd filled the shelves with her book collection.

**17. Promise**

His wedding had been the fulfillment of the implicit promise he'd made to Marian on that night in July, but he still had an important promise to keep to the rest of the townspeople, and he finally made good on it shortly before Christmas by giving them a band that not only played, but _marched_ – and if the boys did neither with any degree of finesse, the River City-ziens were far, far too pleased to notice.

**18. Dream**

Before they were wed, he'd been besieged nightly by a heated torment of romantic and erotic dreams about her, but the dreams came much less frequently these days and were much more pleasant to wake up from – for how could his mind torment him with visions of what he could not have now that his life was better than anything he could dream up?

**19. Candle**

His first birthday spent with her overwhelmed him with emotion almost as much as their first Christmas had, as it had been years since anybody, including himself, had cared enough to commemorate the day; as he blew out the candles on the cake that his dear little librarian had baked for him, the only thing he could find to wish for was that their lives would always be so blessed.

**20. Talent**

She had naturally been very apprehensive about taking any sort of initiative in the bedroom, fearing that her lack of experience would render her embarrassingly incompetent – yet as she gradually became more adventurous, it seemed as though she could do no wrong in his eyes, and she had to wonder if this was because Harold loved her so much that he would have been ecstatic with _anything_ that she did for him, or if she was in fact uncovering some sort of long-hidden talent in herself.

**21. Silence**

For somebody who was accustomed to sleeping in total silence, Marian did find it a little difficult to learn how to fall asleep to the sounds of his breathing every night – but before long, his breath, his warmth, his heartbeat had become no less than essential to her, and nothing lulled her to sleep faster than the not-silent silence of him by her side.

**22. Journey**

Their wedding-night train ride out to Des Moines had been so tense with the unspoken promise of what they were going to do when they arrived that they'd both nearly driven themselves crazy trying _not_ to think about it, something so very close at hand and yet still somehow forbidden; now, on their journey home, Harold's mind was still on how they would be able to properly christen their own marital bed as soon as they got the chance, but this time, he had no trouble informing her of that fact and watching her blush and shiver in anticipation.

**23. Fire**

On a chilly evening just before Christmas, they had spread a few pillows on the floor so that they could lounge right in front of the fireplace, sipping hot tea and talking dreamily while all wrapped up in a down quilt – and then they had actually fallen asleep that way, making for a rather rude awakening a few hours later when they woke up to find that they were lying on a thin rug before a burnt-down fire that did next to nothing to keep the cold at bay!

**24. Strength**

Finding the strength to drag herself out of bed on a cold winter morning had always been difficult enough when she hadn't had the welcoming embrace of a husband to keep her there – they always managed it eventually, of course, but Marian prayed that no one took notice of her more-than-occasional lateness since her marriage.

**25. Mask**

The morning after their wedding night, Marian had discovered a few little red marks on her neck and other areas, clearly the result of Harold's vigorous love-bites, and though the idea of them excited her, she was relieved that her winter clothing would mask them from the public view; about a month later, on the first night that she felt brave enough to love him with her mouth, she took special care to repay him for this reckless tendency by leaving a few distinct marks on _his _skin.

**26. Ice**

The idea of ice skating had sounded romantic, idyllic even, when he had suggested it, but the actual experience had left them sore and bruised all over until they could barely move – though when Marian innocently suggested as they lay sprawled on their bed that they massage each other's aches, the situation took a _considerable _turn for the better…

**27. Fall**

It wasn't, he realized, that they _had fallen_ in love, that it was some kind of completed phase from which they'd now moved on; no, they were falling in love still, both of them being continually awed and amazed by the other, and he hoped he would never cease finding new ways to fall in love with her.

**28. Forgotten**

The difficulty of being very newly married was that it was so hard to get anything _done_, even though there were so many things that needed doing – somehow, whatever household task they were attempting to tackle, they'd always end up entangled in a heated embrace and grasping for each other's buttons, all practical concerns entirely forgotten in an instant.

**29. Dance**

There was just something about dancing with her that had always made him want to take her to bed right away, as if even the most proper dance between them was a restrained parallel to lovemaking – the synchronous movements of their bodies and the intensity in the meeting of their eyes, the heightened breathing and heartbeats and the sheer closeness of it all – and when he'd taken her out dancing one night on their honeymoon, they were so intoxicated by the eroticism of it that they soon gave up and left early, barely able to keep their hands off one another until they were finally secure behind the door of their hotel room once again.

**30. Body**

Her body reacted to mere thoughts of him in the most embarrassing ways now – she could be working on some perfectly innocuous task in the library and all of a sudden she'd find herself craving all those wonderful, wonderful things she now knew he could and would do to her, and she'd wind up blushing and flustered in front of all her patrons with no good explanation to give for her odd behavior.

**31. Sacred**

He got a little antsy sitting in church every Sunday, as sitting still for long time amid a large crowd of people was not a situation he found particularly relaxing – but even if he didn't have the fortitude to concentrate on the reverend's sermon for too long, he inevitably found himself sending God a little prayer of gratitude when he turned to look at the woman sitting beside him.

**32. Farewells**

Marian still hadn't quite gotten used to the idea of bidding farewell to her mother and brother every time she left them to return to her own house, but she could be content knowing that she was not leaving them lonely or unhappy now that Winthrop had grown into such a talkative and active boy.

**33. World**

Marriage had finally given them what they'd longed for all throughout their courtship: a little world unto themselves, a chance to retreat and avoid all prying eyes and social conventions and simply revel in being together and being themselves.

**34. Formal**

There was something almost amusing about how formally they still had to behave in public, as if in complete denial of the way that they carried on at home – though if anything, it might have been a bit easier than it used to be, now that they had the freedom to be as close as they wanted to be as soon as they were alone again.

**35. Fever**

Harold came down sick near the end of January, and as he huddled under the covers, miserable with a high fever and sore throat, Marian diligently ensured that his every need was taken care of, fretting to see her beloved unwell – and then just as he was getting better, she was unlucky enough to be struck by the illness too, and poor Harold had to dedicate the next week to taking care of _her_!

**36. Laugh**

She'd never laughed so much in her life – or at least, not since her Papa had died – than she had in the months that she'd known Harold, and she hadn't fully realized until now how deeply she'd missed that invigorating facet of life during her years as a humorless spinster.

**37. Lies**

It was true that Harold had sworn off lies for good, but he'd come to realize that it was not really possible for even the most upstanding man to abstain from _all _untruths, not if he wants to keep his wife from discovering where he hides her Christmas presents!

**38. Forever**

When he first saw Harold after the professor had returned from his honeymoon, the soon-to-be-married Marcellus jokingly inquired if the "one-woman-forever kind of life" was really all it was cracked up to be; though he didn't want to seem like he was kissing and telling, Harold could only grin like a fool and proclaim that it was even better.

**39. Overwhelmed**

Though she'd done much around the house for her mother for years, Marian felt overwhelmed in the first few days that she realized that she was now expected to keep house entirely on her own – thankfully, Harold didn't leave the work all up to her, and the fact that he'd never lived in a truly traditional household meant that he had developed little prejudice against helping with tasks ordinarily relegated to the woman's sphere.

**40. Whisper**

Even when they were entangled together in the midst of lovemaking, giving free rein to their most passionate moans and cries until the room echoed with the sounds of their ecstasy, he still felt the urge sometimes to bring his lips right to her ear and whisper every heated and intimate thought that came into his mind, thrilled by the knowledge that the words would pass only between the two of them and nowhere else.

**41. Wait**

They both wanted children together, but they also recognized that to have them would change everything, and when they'd hardly had a chance to fully enjoy their new married life, they weren't feeling prepared for everything to change _again_ – yet while they'd agreed to wait a while, they both secretly worried that perhaps it would not be so easy for them to conceive when they wanted to, and that concern made them feel less inclined to wait very long.

**42. Talk**

She insisted on keeping a tidy house, and had cornered him for a stern talking-to when she'd become frustrated with his habit of leaving his things all over the place after he was done with them – and although it hadn't exactly been a _fight_, it gave them their first opportunity to learn the sort of delightful things that can happen between a husband and wife who were both feeling rather apologetic.

**43. Search**

Nobody doubted his legitimacy as a bandleader anymore, but every time he raised his baton to conduct the band, it was the same as it had been the first time – his eyes searched the crowd for that sweet, lovely face, those eyes so full of love and trust, and then all of a sudden he would feel like he was capable of absolutely anything as long as she believed he could do it.

**44. Hope**

When Mrs. Paroo first saw Marian after her honeymoon, nearly the first words out of her mouth were an unsubtle declaration of her hope for grandchildren, and soon; Marian, who had been flustered enough by those sorts of remarks _before_ her wedding, was now ready to melt right into the floor at the thought of her mother referencing, however obliquely, the sorts of things that she and Harold had been doing together!

**45. Eclipse**

Returning to the library after the longest break from work that she had ever taken was disorienting, and she knew that she had a lot of hard work ahead of her if she wanted to get caught up on all of the tasks that had piled up when she'd been away in Des Moines, but her happiness was so great that it utterly eclipsed any feelings of frustration that such mundane concerns might have once provoked.

**46. Gravity**

He'd almost held his breath as he watched Marian wake up next to him for the first time, feeling the tremendous gravity of the moment – would she still be as blissfully comfortable with him as she'd become the night before, or would she shrink away, mortified? – but his worries were quickly laid to rest when she opened her eyes and greeted him with the most radiant, trusting smile that he'd ever seen, and he joyfully kissed his new wife good morning.

**47. Highway**

Already, River City was gaining a bit of a local reputation as a place to purchase musical instruments if one did not wish to travel by train or take the highway all the way to Davenport or Des Moines, and Harold found it rather fortunate that he could now sell to such a variety of customers without doing any traveling at all, seeing as he had no desire to venture away from his happy home for long.

**48. Unknown**

Now that Marian knew the true extent of the passion that Harold felt for her, now that she knew _just how much_ he had been holding back during the months of their courtship, she could barely fathom how he had done it; it was fortunate that her own passions had remained mostly unawakened and unknown to her back then, or she suspected that they never would have managed to remain chaste until their wedding night.

**49. Lock**

She'd always been incredibly charmed by the unruly locks of hair that had a tendency to fall over Harold's forehead whenever he exerted himself, but Marian had come to discover that she enjoyed his dishevelment even more when it was as a result of a delightful tumble in the sheets with her…

**50. Breathe**

It was in those moments just after their lovemaking, when they lay in each other's arms just trying to learn how to think and to breathe again, that Harold was acutely aware of how incredibly different it was to do this thing with the woman that he loved – because even as the haze of ecstasy was clearing from his mind, he looked at his wife and still he _wanted_ her, not just her body but her whole self, and he knew without a doubt that he would never get enough of this, could never be too close to her, could never, ever give or receive enough pleasure in her embrace.


End file.
